The China Interviews

Curatorial pioneer Hans Ulrich Obrist has been an early and frequent observer of the Chinese avant-garde. Beginning with his groundbreaking 1996 exhibition Cities on the Move (co-curated with Hou Hanru), Obrist has engaged China’s leading artists, architects, filmmakers, and musicians in an ongoing dialogue about their work-its origins, evolutions, and connections to artistic movements internationally.

Conducted in Obrist’s signature interview format, these conversations lead to surprising revelations about how artistic practices in China have evolved. Spanning a decade but concentrated in 2006 and 2007 – a pivotal moment for contemporary art in China as international interest surged
alongside an unprecedented pre-Olympic market upswing-these conversations present both a snapshot
of an exuberant historical moment and a unique introduction to the work of the featured artists, as they explain and interpret their own trajectories in dialogue with this relentlessly sharp and inquisitive mind.

Compiled, edited, and painstakingly translated into English for the first time, the interviews are accompanied by over 200 full-color illustrations. Edited by Philip Tinari and Angie Baecker and with an introduction by Philip Tinari.